A VISIT TO THREE ARAB KINGDOMS
Photograph from Captain C. M. Canning
PONTOON BRIDGE ACROSS TIHE TIGRIS AT MOSUL
This boat-bridge has taken the place of an old, dilapidated, and unsafe causeway. The
stone portion of the bridge is of Turkish or Arab construction. The pontoon portion takes
care of the abnormal fluctuation in the water level.
against them, though not with the same
enthusiasm which they now show against
their more tolerant European rulers.
Few Arab tribes recognized the Sultan
of Turkey as the Caliph. or supreme ruler
of the Mohammedan Church. From a
religious viewpoint, King Hussein, in the
Hedjaz, Sherif of Mecca, the goal of mil
lions of devout Moslem pilgrims for ages,
might logically hold that high office.
However, temporal power also seems
necessary, and even with the assistance
of his two sons, both of whom depend on
British support to maintain their posi
tions in their own countries, King Hus
sein does not have the necessary fighting
strength.
King Hussein's standing in the Mo
hammedan religious world was one rea
son why the diplomats of Downing Street
picked the rulers for the richest lands of
Arabia from the one family.
LIFE IN A IIOTEL ON THE EUPHRATES
Nobody can appreciate a hotel until he
has had experience with those of Mesopo
tamian villages along the Euphrates.
The traveler arrives permeated with
dust, from the tips of his ears to the last
seam of his underclothes. The hotel is a
compound, a rectangular one-story build
ing with a flat roof, surrounding a court
yard. Everything, except mosquitoes and
flies, enters through one gate.
A boy brings a tall urn-shaped Arab
pitcher or a pail of water, the stranger
gets out his towel and cake of soap, and,
with the boy pouring water over hands
and head, recalls distant memories of
"every room with a bath."
Soon the villagers arrive, some to look
and ask questions, others to sell flat pan
cake-shaped bread, milk, or live chickens
and kicking sheep.
Meals are strictly buffet-luncheon style.
Knives and forks and such accessories of
the West are dispensed with because
there are none. The Arab believes that
God gave him his hands, and that it
would be sacrilege not to use them when
eating. A roast sheep is picked to the
bones.
Before dark the courtyard is filled with
braying mules and creaking carts. More
fastidious travelers sleep on the bare, flat
roof, spreading out their blankets as soon
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